Breathing Through The End of The World
by TheOceanBreathesSalty
Summary: Jalex, as always. I don't own, as always. From Alex's POV. JustinandAlex-centric. T for language and safety. Please review.


_the story of how things have come to be, as told by Alex Russo (and let it be known, this is definitely the condensed version, the abridged or whatever kind, because the full story takes way too damn long to tell)._

_

* * *

in no more than six parts, including-  
how things were after everything went wrong.  
how it began.  
how it went wrong.  
how they figured it out.  
how the world ended.  
how they got their happy ending._

**

* * *

how things were after everything went wrong (takes place after **_**how it began,**__**how it went wrong, how they figured it out, **_**and **_**how the world ended**_**)**

It's a terrible day.

The weather is awful, bitter cold raindrops that hurt on bare skin and harsh wind that whips through your clothes as if they weren't even there to chill your body. The clouds are dark, unhappy gray and there isn't even a sliver of sunlight anywhere in view.

There's almost no one outside, the normally busy New York streets disturbingly empty.

You observe the horrifying emptiness and get buffeted by too strong winds, standing on the balcony outside of your apartment.

You should go inside and stay sheltered from the weather, like all the other sensible people have done.

But inside is even emptier than this.

So you stand there, arms wrapped tightly around your torso and your hair whipping around in the wind. The rain stings your cheeks and mascara filled teardrops slowly stain your face. Your bare feet are getting numb and your clothes are soaked and you _can't breathe_.

But then you hear a noise behind you and you turn around to look and he's there.

He's standing in front of you in flannel pajamas and flip-flops, hair mussed and eyes frantic.

And he's walking towards you, taking large strides that close the distance between the two of you faster than usual.

He reaches you and pulls you into him without hesitation, arms wrapping around you and his body sheltering you from the rain and the wind.

And you're finally _warm_.

You melt into his body, molding yourself against him. You take a step forward and place your feet on top of his, the top of his so warm that you feel like the bottom of your feet are burning. Your face slides easily into the spot between his shoulder and his chin, and you press shaky lips against the soft skin on his neck.

His arms tighten further and the heat sears through your clothes and you think that if you looked, there would be brands where his arms are on your back, brands marking you as his.

You try and stop shivering but you can feel his breath on the rim of your ear and rain is now stinging the exposed skin on the back of your legs and breathing is still so much harder than it should be.

So you press your shaking form closer to his and choke back the sobs that are trying to escape your throat.

"Alex," he murmurs, lips still right next to your ear. His warm breath causes another shiver to ripple down your spine and the newest quiver causes his arms to tighten so that they're probably bruising your skin.

"Justin," you whisper back, your voice muffled because you refuse to move your face away from the smooth skin of his neck.

A helpless grin spreads across your face when you feel an answering shudder flow through his body.

Nothing is okay and you're just starting to regain feeling in your freezing body and you're freaking crying, but still.

You have him.

And you can make him shiver with nothing more than a whisper of his name and the gentle press of your lips against his neck.

And maybe, just maybe, that's a sign.

A sign that things are going to be okay.

They _have_ to be okay.

**

* * *

how it began (the first part of the story chronologically speaking, before all the other parts)**

This is how it's supposed to go.

You meet a cute boy, one that doesn't grow fur on full moons, and start dating him and fall in love.

And if he can handle all the drama that your family brings to the table, then maybe you'll marry him and have a kid to make your mom happy and everything will be fine.

You'll get a secure job in some gallery or museum and spend your days looking at other people's art.

You'll be content.

That isn't how it goes.

More importantly, that isn't how you _want_ it to go.

You fall in love with a boy that you've known since birth before you ever date him.

And he can handle your family, you have proof of that, but you aren't ever going to marry him or have children with him and nothing is going to be fine.

You don't want a secure job; you want to pursue your passions and paint whatever you want and get fat in Rome and laugh with Harper in Spain.

You'll enjoy life and everything about it and you won't ever settle for content and everyday will be made better because you get to spend it with him.

The guy you love and grew up with.

The one who your family loves and approves of, not for you though, the approval is definitely for any other girl.

Because there's no way they'll let you love Justin.

You can't marry him because it's against the law and you can't have kids with him because they might have, like, seven toes or something, but _who the fuck cares_.

You love him.

And you won't ever be anything more than content without him.

You _do not_ want to be content.

You want to be _happy_.

So, you say screw it to all the rules and kiss him full on the mouth at one in the morning in the middle of the living room, surrounded by familiar orange couches.

You laugh at him when he says it's wrong and kiss him again, just to shut him up.

He doesn't talk for a while after that.

There is plenty of kissing though.

It goes likes that for days, weeks, months, eternity.

You don't know how long ago you got together or how long you're going to stay together; all you know is that you love him like you've never loved anything else in the world.

**

* * *

how it went wrong (takes place after **_**how it began**_** and before **_**how they figured it out**_**)**

Things were changing.

Justin was going off to college and Harper was talking to her parents a lot more than she used to and your parents were always gone at sub conventions and Max was going from one scheme to the next with startling speed.

And you weren't.

You were staying the same, the only constant thing in the entire Russo-Finkel world.

And it was… strange.

Sure, you still loved Justin and he still said he loved you. You still kissed all the time and hid from your parents and laughed when Max walked in on you and ran out screaming about going blind.

But it wasn't the same.

There was this edge of desperation to everything now, this undeniable urge to move faster and do things quicker because _time was_ _running out_.

So you stayed the same while everything else around you sped up. It was like everyone used to be going 45 miles per hour. But then, all of a sudden, you were going 45, but Max was going 60 and Harper was going 75 and your parents were going 55 and Justin was going 90.

Everyone was at different speeds.

And things were getting so much harder.

Being with Justin used to be easy. It was the easiest thing you had ever done, like breathing or scheming or laughing. It was always something to look forward to, never something to dread, and something that you wouldn't give up for the world.

But then he was going through life twice the speed you were.

And suddenly, it wasn't so easy.

And breathing was much harder than it used to be.

**

* * *

how they figured it out (takes place after **_**how it began**_** and **_**how it went wrong**_** and before **_**how the world ended**_**)**

You got a little careless.

Okay, that's a lie.

You got a_ lot_ careless.

Everything was too hard and suddenly being with Justin wasn't like breathing, it was like trying to breathe underwater. You were worried about passing senior year because even though you didn't really care about your grades or how many detentions you received, you definitely didn't want to spend yet another year in high school. Harper was talking about moving back in with her parents and Max had a new girlfriend and your parents were always busy and _everything was too much_.

And you stopped caring.

And that was dangerous.

You were always the one that reminded Justin that PDA was only okay when you were in another country. You were the one who lied to your mom when she saw you stumbling out of Justin's room and you were the one that came up with reasons about why you needed to help Justin pick out the stuff that he was going to decorate his dorm room with. You were the one who remembered to put up the silencing spells so that Justin's hoarse shouts and your low cries didn't wake the rest of the family when you were doing totally illegal things at three in the morning.

And once you stopped doing all those things, it was only a matter of time.

You didn't tell Justin no when he kissed you full on the mouth only a couple blocks away from the substation and you just stared at your mom when she wondered why you were coming out of Justin's bedroom at six in the morning.

You didn't respond when your dad asked why you were picking out the sheets for Justin's bed and you didn't remind Justin about the silencing spell. You laid on his bed in nothing but a bra and pair of boy shorts, staring at the ceiling as he stuttered out some horribly unbelievable lie to your father, who had been awoken by Justin's sharp cry of _Alex_.

Your new found apathy towards life probably wasn't healthy.

Justin kept asking you what was wrong, but he was the only one who noticed and you aren't sure that he really even wanted to know.

And then, one day, your carelessness caught up to the two of you.

Justin was laughing, an arm slung around your waist and lips pressed against your neck. You were smiling slightly at the joke he had just made, but you weren't laughing.

Your mother was standing at the window of the coffee shop the two of you were in, staring at you with something like horror in her eyes and something like disgust on her face.

And that was the moment.

The moment where that damn apathy really fucked you over.

Because Justin lifted his head from the crook of your neck and slid his lips over yours in a smooth caress, his arm tightening around your waist and the other reaching so that he could glide his fingers down your cheek.

When you opened your eyes again, your mom was no longer in the window.

You still couldn't bring yourself to care.

Justin walked you back to the substation, his fingers laced with yours until you got to the door.

He was smiling while the two of you walked up the stairs, the grin bright and his eyes sparkling.

Your parents were standing in the living room, arms crossed and postures defensive, eyes cold and mouths stern.

They stood in front of the orange couches that you first kissed Justin in front of, disapproving and disappointed and angry.

"It's immoral."

"It's illegal."

"It's _wrong_."

And suddenly, everything that made you _you_ came rushing back.

Your hatred of judgment and your anger at how unfair everything about this relationship was and your love for Justin all came back in one roaring rush that made your ears ring and your eyes blur.

Justin was squeezing your hand so tightly that it was beginning to turn numb and you knew that he was just as angry as you.

Your magic began to pulse around you, twining with Justin's own furious magic and swirling around the room in circles and swirls that grew larger and larger.

The light is almost unbearable and you close your eyes and bury your face in Justin's chest, the feel of his arms tightening around you the only thing keeping you grounded.

All you can see is your dad's horrified stare and your mother's disgusted eyes.

Even the magic pulsing around you isn't bright enough to block their disapproval out.

The blinding swirls and circles kept growing.

**

* * *

how the world ended (takes place after **_**how it began, how it went wrong, **_**and**_** how they figured it out**_** and before**_** how they got their happy ending**_**)**

A flash.

A blink.

A _second_.

And the world is gone.

**

* * *

how they got their happy ending (takes place after everything, the last in the story chronologically speaking)**

You hadn't known that magic could do that.

You didn't know that your and Justin's magic was so volatile, so powerful, that it would wipe out nearly the entire world if the two of you got angry enough.

Maybe it was the type of anger though.

Because when you were little and angry, it was no big deal. The lights flickered a little bit and maybe the orange couch shook slightly, but it was nothing.

The destruction of the world was most definitely _something_.

But the anger that destroyed the world wasn't just not getting cookies for dinner. It was this all-consuming fury that took over everything because you were being told by your parents, the two people that were always supposed to love you no matter what, that you were _wrong _and_ immoral _and _illegal_. You were being stared at like some disgusting thing, like the piece of gum that people have to scrape off the bottom of their new shoes by your _mother_. And your father was looking at you, his little girl, with all this horror and disapproval and you couldn't take it.

Your return from apathy combined with this terrible fervent anger was too much.

Your magic exploded and pulled Justin's along with it.

As far as you know, no one but you and him survived the fallout.

It had been three weeks and you had yet to see any humans, any signs of life outside of you and your _brotherloversoulmate_.

The two of you went to the wizarding world once, just to see if anything had changed, and nothing was different. You think that they're still oblivious to the changes that have taken place on earth, changes that you and Justin were the direct cause of.

You figure that if they knew what had happened, the two of you would be in jail or under a guillotine of something.

But you aren't.

Instead, you're alive.

You're alive with _Justin_.

And you caused the apocalypse and the two of you were all alone and you were more than slightly horrified by the sight of a desolate, bleak New York City,

But it was going to be okay.

Because you had Justin.

And he was your everything anways.

So nothing was okay and everything was all right.

All you needed was him.

As long as you had Justin, things would be easy.

Things could be as easy as breathing.

As long as he was there.

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As always, please review. Tell me if you liked it and what I could have done differently if you didn't. Thanks for reading dear ones.


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